LAKEVILLE, CT (19 December 2022)- Fans of Lime Rock Park and Corvette celebrated two significant anniversaries in 2022 – the 70th year of the Corvette and the 40th Historic Festival. The celebrations for Corvette fans are set to continue in the upcoming season.
Corvette Racing will be playing a major role in two weekends at The Park. Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia will race the C8.R for the final time at Lime Rock Park in the Northeast Grand Prix on July 21-22. The team is already testing the Z06 GT3 that is built to GT3 regulations and will race in 2024.
Corvette will also compete in Lime Rock Park’s traditional Labor Day Weekend Historic Festival 41, Sept. 1-4. Corvette was the presenting sponsor of the 2022 event, with a dozen rare Corvette concepts cars on display. The action also included 20 competition cars, ranging from the 1963 Corvette Grand Sport from the Revs Institute to Hagerty Barn Find’s Tom Cotter in a 1964 Corvette to a 1978 Corvette that raced in both IMSA and Trans Am.
Through the years, Corvettes have been a familiar sight at Lime Rock Park, competing in the many SCCA National and Regional events in addition to club races. Dr. Dick Thompson drove Bill Mitchell’s famed Sting Ray in the 1959 Formula Libre event, finishing ninth. John Greenwood raced his iconic red, white and blue “Spirit of 76” Corvette to celebrate the bicentennial in 1976. John Paul Sr. raced the unique tube-frame “Supervette” in 1978, taking a podium at Lime Rock in Camel GT competition. Greg Pickett scored his first Trans Am victory at LRP in 1981, winning in his own Corvette.
The American Le Mans Series first visited Lime Rock Park in 2004, giving Corvette Racing an ideal venue for its yellow race cars. Oliver Gavin racked up consecutive GTS victories, co-driving with Olivier Beretta (2004) and Johnny O’Connell (2005) in a pair of 1-2 finishes. Jan Magnussen and O’Connell led another 1-2 finish in 2008.
The Corvette Daytona Prototype came to Grand-Am in 2012, with Max Angelelli and Jordan Taylor driving to Rolex Series victories for two straight years for Wayne Taylor Racing. Corvette swept the 2013 event, with Lawson Aschenbach and Eric Curran winning in a Ted Marsh entry.
In Trans Am, Paul Fix II won three straight races in a Tony Ave Corvette, in 2013-16.
Following the ALMS-Grand-Am merger, GTLM came to Lime Rock Park for the first time in 2016. Corvette Racing scored its 100th victory, with Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner beating C6.R teammates Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia by less than one second. It was the team’s 60th 1-2 finish. It was also Gavin’s team-leading fourth victory at Lime Rock.
Racing returned following the pandemic in 2021, and Corvette Racing returned to the top of the Lime Rock Park podium – with Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia co-driving their new Corvette C8.R.
A bent rear suspension midway through the 2022 event spoiled the day for Taylor and Garcia. They will return in July – looking to add another chapter to Corvette’s glorious history at Lime Rock Park.
To see Corvette continue to write history at Lime Rock Park in 2023, visit https://limerock.com/ for exclusive holiday ticket pricing through Dec. 31.